Final Festival Concert
The works to be performed at the Festival Concert on Saturday 16th March are Cantata Misericordium by Benjamin Britten, and Mass in C minor ("the Great") by Mozart.
This will be a wonderful event, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten and the music of composers whom he most admired. The Cantata Misericordium is a 20-minute work, moving and compassionate, which sets the story of the Good Samaritan. It is scored for Baritone – the traveller – and Tenor – the Samaritan – and chorus, which acts as commentator and narrator. The orchestration, for harp, timpani, piano, string quartet and strings is particularly effective. This work, from 1963, followed the War Requiem and has inevitably been overshadowed by that great piece but it is a beautiful work with very interesting and dramatic music for the chorus.
Mozart left his great C Minor Mass unfinished but it is a substantial and satisfying piece even in its unfinished state with wonderful music for soloists and chorus alike. Our soloists, so superb in the Easter Oratorio in 2011, will once again be Rachel Little, Nicholas Hurndall Smith and John Lofthouse, with Megan Read providing the second soprano part. The orchestra will be the Northern Chamber Orchestra and they will play Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite to complete the concert programme. So much pleasure was experienced in being conducted by David Lawrence that it seemed inevitable that we should invite him again.
This will be a wonderful event, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten and the music of composers whom he most admired. The Cantata Misericordium is a 20-minute work, moving and compassionate, which sets the story of the Good Samaritan. It is scored for Baritone – the traveller – and Tenor – the Samaritan – and chorus, which acts as commentator and narrator. The orchestration, for harp, timpani, piano, string quartet and strings is particularly effective. This work, from 1963, followed the War Requiem and has inevitably been overshadowed by that great piece but it is a beautiful work with very interesting and dramatic music for the chorus.
Mozart left his great C Minor Mass unfinished but it is a substantial and satisfying piece even in its unfinished state with wonderful music for soloists and chorus alike. Our soloists, so superb in the Easter Oratorio in 2011, will once again be Rachel Little, Nicholas Hurndall Smith and John Lofthouse, with Megan Read providing the second soprano part. The orchestra will be the Northern Chamber Orchestra and they will play Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite to complete the concert programme. So much pleasure was experienced in being conducted by David Lawrence that it seemed inevitable that we should invite him again.
David Lawrence
